A Pirate's Life
by absolutedespair
Summary: Normally, no self-respecting parent would even think about leaving their child in the hands of a Yonko. Unfortunately, Shanks forgot that common sense didn't apply to the Monkey family.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Hi everyone! Luffy and Shanks are two of my favorite characters of One Piece (I love their relationship so much). There are many stories online where Whitebeard raises Luffy, but barely any where Shanks raises him. So I guess, this is sort of the inspiration for my story.

* * *

Shanks groaned when the bright sunlight hit his face. He ducked his head, massaging his temple gently. Unfortunately, it did nothing to ease the throbbing pain.

I shouldn't have drank all that sake last night, he thought piteously.

He sniffled, his mood only slightly cheered when he saw that the state of his nakama wasn't any better than his own.

Shanks turned to his loyal first mate, scowling when he noticed that the stoic man was whistling softly whilst polishing one of his pistols, looking no worse for wear than usual. He pouted, no matter what happened, the dark-haired man always remained composed and alert.

"Beeeennnny, my head hurts. It's too bright and sunny and hot. Make it stop."

Benn glanced at Shanks, raising an eyebrow, "Well, maybe you should've thought about the consequences before you threw that party last night. Not only did you use up all of our funds, you also ended up with a dreadful hangover."

Shanks let out another pout at the lecture, muttering, "Well, it was fun while it lasted. Anyways, we owed the villagers for supporting us during the fight. Without their help, I would've probably ended up with worse injuries."

Benn let out a noncommittal hum, "Maybe."

Shanks scowled at Benn's tone, immediately recognizing that the other man didn't really agree with him, but let him have his way.

"But?" Shanks prompted.

Benn sighed slightly at Shanks' disgruntled voice, deciding to humor the red-haired man. "We have no money now to buy ingredients or medical supplies. Furthermore, most of our crew are either unconscious or barely conscious as a result of last night's party. We're quite vulnerable to attacks by our enemies at the moment…and we have many enemies."

Shanks chuckled softly at his first mate's worrying. No matter where they were or what they did, Benn always accounted for any possible treacherous situations. Good thing too. The Red-Haired Pirates would've been in trouble if they didn't have a right hand man as responsible as Benn. However, Benn could stop and relax sometimes. It probably wasn't healthy to be that uptight.

Shanks lounged lazily on deck, waving his hand carelessly, "Stop being so serious Benny, we're _pirates_ and pirates _always_ throw a great party. Anyways, I don't-"

 **BOOOOM!**

Shanks jumped slightly from the loud explosion, breaking off mid-sentence to stare in the direction of the noise. "What the fuck was that?"

Benn didn't respond, instead choosing to silently watch as one of his nakama came running towards the pair with a panicked expression on his face. "Guess we'll find out soon," he muttered.

"Boss! Boss! Boss!"

The subordinate was panting loudly, sweat pouring down his face as he fell onto his knees. "I-It's…he's, he's…the revolutionary D-Dragon is here! He's asking permission to board the ship!" The young pirate gasped out the words with effort, fear and anxiety apparent on his face.

Shanks eyes widened slightly in surprise. Although his posture visibly tensed up for a couple seconds, he quickly forced himself to relax. It wouldn't be good if a pirate captain panicked in front of his crew, especially the rookie ones.

Shanks rubbed his chin thoughtfully, pondering what this visit could possibly mean, before sharing a quick glance with Benn. "Oh? Dragon? Well hurry up and let onto the ship then, it's impolite to keep him waiting."

The boy nodded rapidly, stumbling in his haste to relay the orders.

When the kid left, Shanks lost his carefree persona. A scowl worked its way onto his face and a dark aura started to cloud over him when he thought about fighting in the midst of a hangover.

Shanks raised his head and took a deep breath before closing his eyes. Using his observation haki, he felt a strong aura slowly making its way through his ship.

Must be Dragon.

The captain opened his eyes when he felt the aura come to a slow stop in front of him. "Yo Dragon. Yasopp, Lucky, thanks for leading him here."

Yasopp and Lucky Roo nodded grimly in acknowledgement before turning their full attention towards the mysterious dark-haired man.

Shanks spoke up, gripping his sword in warning. "I hope the revolutionaries aren't here to make trouble. I have to admit that I'm not feeling too well today."

Dragon shook his head ever so slightly, "Relax Akagami, I bear no ill intentions."

Although Shanks relaxed the hold on his sword, his body was tense, ready to jump back into combat at any time. He stared at Dragon with narrowed eyes, conveying the silent question that was on everyone's mind.

Dragon didn't say anything for a moment, flipping his cape wide open with a flourish, revealing the sleeping baby he was cradling in his arms. He glanced at the small boy, his eyes softening, before speaking quietly. "This is my son. His name is Monkey D. Luffy."

Shanks' eyes widened in surprise, "Oh, so you had a son? I suppose congratulations are in order. It'll be interesting to see how he changes the world when he grows up."

The revolutionary nodded seriously, "Indeed."

He pierced Shanks with his dark eyes. "It's far too dangerous for him to stay with me. If anyone finds out about our connection, Luffy will be executed. Moreover, we have many important documents that a baby may accidentally destroy." He continued on bluntly, "Shanks, I would like you to take him on your ship."

There was silence for a few moments,

…

…

…

Before everyone's jaws comically dropped open.

"NANI?!"

Benn was the first person to calm down, "Why don't you get his grandfather to raise him?"

Dragon answered, "If I leave him with my father, he will attempt to push the marine occupation onto Luffy like he did me. I want Luffy to grow up somewhere where he'll be happy and free."

Shanks stared at the dark-haired man even more seriously than before now that an innocent baby was involved, "Why did you choose me to raise him? I've never met you and you have no reason to trust me with your son. Wouldn't someone like Whitebeard be a better candidate for Luffy's caretaker? The man always did enjoy the aspect of family."

Dragon pondered the other's questions, and answered carefully, "I've always been a good judge of character and you seem like an honest man who can be trusted. Frankly, I did consider giving Luffy to Whitebeard. However, the New World is too perilous for a baby. I've noticed lately that the Red Force has been staying out of the Grand Line for a couple of weeks now. Although not by much, your ship is safer."

Shanks didn't say anything back in response, a hesitant look on his face.

Yasopp rolled his eyes at Shanks' indecisiveness, moving forwards to coo softly at the sleeping baby. "Oh, c'mon boss, can't we take him in? He's so adorable! He reminds me of my kid Usopp who's just as cute with his little long nose and…"

Shanks rolled his eyes at the cooing, interrupting the sharpshooter, "Then why don't we take Luffy and leave you behind."

Yasopp pouted slightly, before responding back, "Oh, don't be such a-"

Benn let out a small sigh, choosing to ignore the bickering couple and instead turn back to Dragon, who was watching the entire interaction with an amused expression. "However, even if we were taking a vacation from the Grand Line, we have no obligation to care for your child. What if we refuse?"

Dragon's lips quirked up ever so slightly, "Well, I suppose I could always lie to my father and tell him that you guys are harboring his grandson."

Shanks broke from his argument with Yasopp, breaking out into loud guffaws at the bold statement. "Dahahaha, are you seriously threatening us with Garp?"

Though Dragon stared at Shanks sternly, his eyes were sparkling with humor, "I'm always serious."

Shanks grinned impishly before moving to stand next to Yasopp so he could get a look at the brat. However, before he could say a word, Dragon swiftly dumped the child into Shanks' arms.

Shanks froze, slight panic running through his frame. "Ah…a-are you sure you want me to hold him? Maybe Yasopp should hold him, I mean, he has a child back in the East Blue."

He chose to ignore the snickering of his crewmates when they heard his panicked voice. _They_ weren't the ones in this situation. He bet that they wouldn't know what to do with the miniature human either. Shanks couldn't handle delicate, breakable things. He was a _pirate_. What if he accidentally dropped Luffy or something? Oh god, if Dragon and Garp didn't slaughter him, Yasopp and Benn would for being careless with a kid.

Shanks glanced cautiously at the baby when he let out a quiet gurgle. Before he could help it, a small smile crept upon his face.

The kid's kind of cute, he thought.

Luffy stared at Shanks with wide, curious eyes, giggling happily.

Shanks laughed, his eyes softening when Luffy grabbed the pinky of his outstretched hand. Little Luffy let out a happy squeal, staring earnestly at the red-haired man. God, Shanks thought, this kid's melting my heart. If this was a different world, maybe…just maybe, I'd take him in.

Unfortunately, the world didn't work that way. There was no way a child would be able to live peacefully with a pirate. He'd instantly be recognized by the government as a criminal. It'd be even worse when they figured out his bloodline. What Dragon needed to do was hide his son in a small and quiet village.

Shanks looked up with apologetic eyes, "Look Dragon, I'm sorry but a pirate's life is not for a child." He started to pass the baby back to his father when he realized something. The enigmatic man was no longer in front of him.

"Ano…Dragon? Dragon? Hello? Where'd he go?" He looked around wildly, "Is he hiding?"

Lucky mumbled around a mouthful of meat, "He already left a long time ago, boss. Said you looked too happy with Luffy for him to interrupt."

Shanks' eyes bulged out, his mouth dropping wide open. "What?! But we can't raise a baby! It's too dangerous for him here, I have to give him back! Where is he?"

Yasopp shrugged, "Dragon's already long gone. We can't even contact him. The revolutionaries are all mysterious like that."

Benn nodded stoically, "Guess we'll be stuck with Luffy for the meantime then."

Shanks merely stared at his nakama, before giving in, let out a sigh. He didn't think this meeting with Dragon would turn out this way.

He shrugged. Oh well, no point in dealing with the past.

"Guys, you know what happens when we get a new member! We throw a party!"

* * *

Revised this chapter on 7/19/16.

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	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Hello! I'm sorry that I took such a long time to update. I thought that I would've gotten this chapter out, but I'm a slow writer.

By the way, I don't know if any of you guys noticed, but I edited the first chapter many, _many_ times. I guess I wanted Shanks' crewmates to show a little more respect towards him? Because even though Luffy and Shanks have similar personalities, and exemplify brilliant leadership skills, I still feel like their interactions with their crews will be different. First, because, Shanks' crew seems large and he probably has many subordinates, much like Whitebeard's crew, whereas Luffy's crew is very small as he handpicked all of them individually. I dunno, so, some of the lower-ranking crewmembers probably wouldn't act as carefree around Shanks. Second, Shanks is more intelligent than Luffy. Although Luffy's very perceptive, I think his intelligence is one of the main reasons why he leans so much on his nakama? Like, he knows that he isn't as smart as other people, but he's ok with that, because his crew will help him. Finally, I feel like Shanks' crew acts more like pirates than Luffy's crew. As we've seen in OP, Shanks' crew have killed other people before (as was shown with that entire scene with the bandits), whereas Luffy's crew probably would never do that (at least, not on purpose). The point is, I feel like the dynamic between Shanks and his crew in comparison to Luffy and his crew is different. Of course, even though Luffy's crew treats him like an idiot, they all acknowledge him as their captain and respect him. Erg...I don't know if this made much sense, I have trouble putting my thoughts onto paper, but yeah, I'm just rambling so ignore me. Of course, I may have contradicted myself because I feel like I made Shanks' interactions with his crew in this chapter a _little bit_ too similar to Luffy's and his crew, but whatever...I'm too lazy to edit it.

* * *

This is not how I imagined my life would turn out to be, Shanks thought woefully.

He let out a small sigh, staring cautiously at the baby sitting in his lap. Luffy stared right back at him, tilting his head slightly, his wide, expressive eyes filled with confusion. He reached an arm out towards the red-haired man, letting out a little gurgle.

Shanks let out a small smile, his gaze softening as he shook Luffy's tiny fist. "You're such a cute little brat. How on earth did you get stuck with someone like Dragon as your father? That silent, mysterious, old man? You're nothing like him!"

He froze, gasping as a horrifying revelation suddenly occurred to him. "I bet you're not really his son. You're probably one of those random kids that Garp adopted on a whim and when Dragon found out through his spying methods, he kidnapped you!"

Shanks let out a shudder when he imagined Garp raising children, "You're one lucky kid." Luffy squealed happily in response, waving his hands up and down.

Shanks grinned, "Dahahaha, so you agree with me? Of course you do!" He burst into another bout of laughter.

Even though Luffy didn't understand what was so funny, he laughed joyously along with the older man.

* * *

Benn, Yasopp, and Lucky felt a shiver run down their spines as they stared at the scene in front of them.

Yasopp looked up with worried eyes, feeling anxious all of a sudden, "...Benn, I don't think Dragon really understood how much danger Luffy was in when he placed him in the care of Shanks." The sniper let out a small shudder at the thought of a mini-Shanks running around the ship in the future.

Lucky Roo nodded, agreeing with the sniper, "Shanks is going to end up corrupting the poor kid."

"Hey!" Shanks abruptly stopped laughing, looking up from Luffy. He glared at his three closest friends. "You bastards, I'm going to be an awesome dad! I'll show you guys!"

Benn stared at Shanks, then Luffy, and finally back to Yasopp and Lucky. "...I see your point." He got up and walked swiftly away, muttering quietly to himself, "Gonna have to check the bars for info about the revolutionaries."

Shanks pouted, "HEY!"

* * *

"Benn went out to buy baby supplies for Lu."

"..."

"That bastard Dragon could've at least given us a little money to help support the kid. Do you know how much baby supplies cost?"

"..."

"Oh well, it's not like any of the treasure we have was originally ours anyways."

"…"

Yasopp stopped, letting out a groan when he realized Shanks wasn't planning on answering him anytime soon. "C'mon Shanks! You're not still pissed about what I said earlier, right? It was a joke. Just friendly banter between good mates, eh?"

Shanks didn't respond, pretending to shoot betrayed eyes at his sniper. He cradled Luffy close to his chest, smirking when he noticed Yasopp faltering at the doleful puppy eyes that the kid suddenly shot him.

Yasopp hurriedly turned away from the look, choosing to stare at Shanks' uncute face instead. "Why aren't you angry at Benn and Lucky then?"

The red-haired man stared at Yasopp with a petulant expression. "You started it."

Yasopp rolled his eyes at the child-like captain, letting out a long-suffering sigh. "Fine. I'm sorry for what I said before, and to make it up to you, I'll change Luffy's diapers for two weeks. Will you forgive me now?" He glanced at his captain expectantly, waiting for the other man's response.

Shanks continued to look at Yasopp with a mock solemn stare as he shook his head slowly. "I'll forgive you if you change Lu's diapers for two months. It'll be good experience, since you're the one with a son anyways."

"W-what?" Yasopp spluttered incredulously, "That doesn't even make sense! Usopp will be all grown up the next time I see him! Besides, weren't _you_ the one who's supposed to be the father figure to Luffy?"

Shanks smirked, "These are my conditions to your forgiveness and that's final. Take it or leave it."

His smirk widened when Yasopp merely gaped at him with wide eyes. He bit his lower lip, stifling his snickers quietly as he mentally catalogued Yasopp's gobsmacked expression into his brain.

Shanks finally burst into loud guffaws, grinning amusedly when an angry look quickly replaced the shocked one on the other man's face. Another small chuckle left him when Yasopp took his pistol out of his holster, shooting a bullet near Shanks' feet.

"Oi, oi, careful, I'm holding a baby, ya know?"

Yasopp growled, but he put the safety back on the pistol and stalked away. "I'll be back for you later, boss," he warned.

Shanks smiled smugly, looking back down at Luffy. "And that was your Uncle Yasopp. I'm sorry, but he seems to be a little bit bad-tempered today. I can't imagine why though, it's such a beautiful day! He should cheer up!"

Luffy let out another happy giggle in response.

* * *

Shanks smiled again, albeit more genuinely this time, as he continued to ramble on and on to the small baby in his arms, suddenly feeling in a good mood.

"Is the kid asleep?"

Shanks looked up, glancing at Benn, who was standing by the captain's quarters' door inconspicuously.

"Hey Benny." Shanks rubbed a hand over his face, feeling tired all of a sudden as he stared at the snoozing baby near his side. His eyes softened as he stared at the little figure next to him, "Yeah. He fell asleep about an hour ago."

Benn smirked slightly at the look of fondness on his captain's face, "Boss, you aren't growing soft on us, right?"

Shanks didn't respond immediately, rubbing a hand gently along Luffy's soft back. "And what if I am, Benny?"

The smirk slowly slipped off of Benn's face as he observed his captain silently. Shanks' back was hunched over slightly, his usual goofy smile gone from his face as he gazed sadly at the little child that was curled up into his side. When Benn didn't say anything in response, Shanks looked up, staring at the black-haired man intensely, silently asking for advice.

At the moment, Shanks wasn't asking for Benn to be his best friend or authority figure. He was asking him to be his first mate, his confidant.

"Mattaku...you sure are a troublesome captain." Benn shook his head, letting an-ever-so-small smile grace his face. He sat next to Shanks on the bed in silent support. "You know, it's ok to get attached to Luffy."

Shanks frowned, "I just...we both know that a pirate's lifestyle isn't for children."

Benn raised his eyebrow, "You were pretty young when you were a cabin boy on the Oro Jackson."

Shanks shook his head, "Well yeah, but I was already past the age of ten.. I wasn't a defenseless baby like Luffy. I wasn't a liability."

Benn sighed, responding back quietly. "That's true, but you have to admit, the circumstances surrounding Luffy are unique in comparison to yours. Frankly, he'll probably have to end up choosing the lifestyle of an outlaw sooner or later when his heritage is revealed. Besides, can you _really_ trust Garp to keep his mouth shut if he found out about his grandson? No matter how high of a position Garp has, or how close he is with Sengoku, the marines will end up trying to execute Luffy, just like they tried to do with Roger's child."

Benn smiled when the other man looked at him thoughtfully, "And if the marines don't kill Luffy, Garp probably will in an attempt to turn the kid into a "fine marine" or something. Doesn't that old man always rant on and on about how he wanted Dragon to become a marine?"

Shanks let out a full-body shiver at the thought, a look of horror on his face as he imagined Garp raising children. Benn chortled at the expression on his captain's face, before stopping.

"And even if Luffy is a defenseless baby, we'll take care of him. You said it before, Luffy's our nakama right? And the red-haired pirates _never_ leave our nakama behind."

Benn continued, "Anyways, is there really anyone that not only matches our strength, but also has the desire to cause harm to us? Maybe the high-ranking marines and one or two of the other Yonkos, but that's it. That's another difference between us and the Roger pirates. Now, they obviously weren't weak, but when you joined them, they hadn't even reached the title of Yonko yet."

Shanks nodded, looking at the sleeping baby again, before turning back to Benn, a genuine smile on his face. "You're right. Thanks Benny."

Benn shook his head, letting out a small huff. "Well, it's the first mate's responsibility to listen to the Captain's worries and insecurities."

He let out another small chuckle when Shanks started to splutter about how he didn't have any concerns or insecurities. Benn stood up, ignoring his captain's murmurings, and stepped out of the door.

"Goodnight boss, goodnight Luffy." Benn smiled at the two occupants of the room before closing the door gently.

* * *

"Luffy no!"

"Kid, don't touch that, you'll get hurt!"

"Don't go over there! You're going to fall overboard!"

"Luffy! Hurry and take that out of your month. You can't eat that!"

"Luffy. Luffy. LUFFY!"

Shanks laughed at the chaos the little guy was causing, walking over to pat Luffy's head gently. "I see you've been causing quite a ruckus on the ship! If this is the trouble you've caused because you started crawling, I'm scared to imagine what will happen once you learn to walk!"

Luffy smiled at the older man who was squatting next to him and babbled happily.

Benn sighed at the scene, before walking over to gather the crawling baby in his arms. "Can't you be a little bit more responsible, Shanks? Luffy could get hurt if he continues to crawl around the ship unattended."

Shanks shrugged, waving his arms nonchalantly, "Don't worry Benny. We won't let anything happen to the kid."

Benn frowned at Shanks' unconcerned expression. He knew that his red-haired captain thought the world of the child, but he could at least take some precautions around the ship.

"Of _course_ I know that you're doing your best to keep Luffy safe, but what if you're not there? He could fall overboard, or get hurt during one of our fights, or kidnapped, or...or something…" Benn pushed on, choosing to ignore Shanks' amused expression at his worrying, "Now, I'm not saying that we have to baby proof the ship or anything, but someone needs to be with Luffy at _all times_. He's a _baby_ , for godsakes!"

Shanks put his hand on Benn's shoulder, stopping the other's rambling. "Don't worry Benny, like I told you before, none of us on this ship will let anything happen to the little one. But you're right, we'll each take turns looking after Luffy."

He smirked, sending a thumbs up to Benn. "Thanks for taking the first shift Benny! Tomorrow, you can hand him off to Yasopp or Lucky."

Benn paused, "W-wait, why do I have the first shift?" Shanks paused, pretending to think for a moment before grinning. "Because it was your idea in the first place!" Before Benn could say anything back in response, Shanks scurried away quickly, chuckling as he did so.

Benn sighed, used to his captain's antics, and stared at the little child he held in his arms. He bounced Luffy up and down gently, smiling when the baby let out happy giggles. "Oh well...I guess you and I will hang out today, huh Luffy?"

* * *

Lucky raised an eyebrow at Benn's words and shrugged, "Fine, place him on the table next to me."

Benn hesitated when he saw Lucky turn back to his plate of food, chomping through the meat rapidly. Benn frowned, setting Luffy gently down on the table, "You better take care of the kid, Lucky. If he gets into _any_ trouble or gets injured, you'll be on a vegetarian diet for the next five years."

Lucky's face paled, and he looked up from his food, quickly reassuring the protective first mate. "Don't worry Benn, I won't let Luffy be in any danger."

Benn nodded, his arms crossed, a stern expression on his face. "You'd better not. Look after the kid, ok?"

After he received a swift nod from Lucky, the stoic man turned to Luffy, his gaze softening. He patted the baby's head gently, before exiting the kitchen in order to tend to his duties.

Lucky took another chomp at the drumstick, muttering, "God, the vice-president's really overprotective of you, kid." He smiled slightly at the baby, "You sure are lucky to have all these great people looking after you. No one's gonna _dare_ mess with you when you grow older."

Luffy stared at Lucky quietly. He make a small noise, reaching towards the elder man.

Lucky looked questioningly at the baby, "Hmm, what're you doing, kid?"

Luffy made another noise, sounding more distressed this time, pointing at Lucky's plate. His eyes were wide with fascination as he stared at the meat.

Lucky raised his eyebrow, and gestured towards his food, "You want some meat, Luffy?" He held a small drumstick next to Luffy. Luffy beamed in response, giggling happily as he patted the drumstick eagerly.

Lucky let out a rumbling laugh at the other's actions. He grinned, tearing off a small piece, and handing it to the baby. "I bet you're going to be a little foodie when you grow up. I like you even more now!"

Luffy licked the meat experimentally, his eyes lighting up at the foreign taste. He ate the entire strip quickly, drool gathering at the corner of his mouth. When he was done, he whimpered softly at the loss, before he realized that there was more. He stared at the drumstick Lucky was holding and banged the table loudly to get the elder man's attention, staring at the food with expectant eyes.

Lucky laughed again, tearing another piece to give to the eager child. "Great! A healthy appetite is what every growing child needs!"

Lucky smiled again when the child finished his food already and gave him more food.

"You really seem to like meat, huh?" Luffy chirped happily in response. The baby munched joyously on the food.

"Are babies even supposed to eat this much?" Lucky wondered worriedly as the young child continued to eat with vigor. "Oh well," he shrugged, "No point in dwelling on the unknown."

He stared at Luffy in slight amazement as he continued to chow down on the food, "Do you know the thing you're eating is called?"

Luffy slowed slightly in his eating, staring at Lucky with wide, befuddled eyes.

Lucky smirked, "It's called meat. Can you say that? Meat."

Luffy chewed, tilting his head to the side, "Ma?" He paused, looking confused.

Lucky grinned, "Close buddy, but not quite. Meat. Meeeeeeeaaaaaat."

Luffy scrunched his eyebrows, "Maa, mii, me?" He grinned happily, "Meeeee?"

Lucky chuckled, "Almost there. Meeeaaaatt. Me eat, meat."

Luffy stared at the drumstick with a serious face, at least as serious as a baby could stare, "Meee? Meeee, meeeeat?"

Lucky laughed loudly, patting the baby's hair affectionately. "That's right, buddy! You're eating meat!"

Luffy laughed along with the elder happily, squealing, "Meee, meat, meat, mii, meat."

Lucky grinned, tearing a large piece of meat and placed it in front of the baby, "Here's your reward. A nice, large chunk of yummy meat."

The baby beamed back at him in response, babbling meat, meat, happily as he ate the food.

It was fifteen minutes later when Lucky froze, realizing that it probably wasn't a good idea that he caused Luffy's first word to be a food product. Furthermore, he was the first one to hear it. He chuckled nervously, imagining Benn's envious, and slightly angry reaction, "Let's keep this a secret between us, ok, kiddo?"

Luffy grinned at the elder man in response.

* * *

 **BONUS:**

Shanks was carrying Luffy, bouncing him gently in his arms. "You must be tired, huh?" Luffy whimpered softly in response, blinking his eyes blearily as he laid his head on the man's chest.

Benn glanced at his captain, "Want me to put him to bed?"

Shanks shook his head, "Nah, I'll do it."

Benn nodded, but he got up to follow the other man to the bedroom.

"Pa."

Shanks froze, glancing back at the other, "Did you say something, Benny?" Benn frowned, shaking his head. "I didn't say anything. Maybe you imagined it?"

Shanks opened his mouth to say something in response, but before he could say anything, another soft pa sounded.

Luffy gripped Shanks' shirt tightly, "Pa…papa."

Shanks stopped, staring at the baby he was holding in astonishment. "Did you just say Papa, Luffy? Am I your Papa?"

Luffy beamed, clutching the fabric tightly in his small hands, "Papa."

Benn laughed, grinning at Shanks' shocked faced. He walked over to the pair and patted Luffy's head, "It's your first word, Luffy! Papa! I'm so proud of you." He grinned at Shanks, "Why're you looking so surprised Papa Shanks?"

Shanks laughed, breaking out of his stupefied form. He stared at the baby in wonder, before hurrying up on deck. He grinned at his nakama on deck, who stared back at him questioningly. "Guys! We're going to throw a _big_ party today! Little Luffy here just said his first word!"

Benn smirked, adding, "His first word was Papa."

The crew gave a resounding cheer, several crewmembers going up towards the trio to congratulate the tiny kid (and his appointed parents).

No one noticed that throughout the entire event, Lucky Roo stayed in the corner, sweating profusely because he was the only one that knew that this party was celebrating a lie. He pouted, munching dejectedly on his drumstick, "Meat was a better first word, anyways."

* * *

 **A/N:** So here's chapter two... I actually had a lot of trouble writing this chapter. I guess, that was why I took such a long time to update. It's difficult writing about the main character of the story, when he's a baby lol. Tbh, I don't really like this chapter. I feel like it's too choppy when it moves from scene to scene (I used a lot of those line breaks). I don't know... Ugh, I don't like this chapter, but I guess I'll try harder next chapters. In the next chapter, Luffy's gonna be a walking, talking, person. I don't think I could've written another chapter with Luffy as a baby.


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